Author Archives: Our Friend, The Admin

About Our Friend, The Admin

I own this website. My word here is law. Except where the ToS of Dot5Hosting, New Zealand law, or US law takes precedence.

Awesome Tapes From Africa: a blog about indie African music

Via Boing Boing, I discovered this absolute trove of incredibly cool tape dubs all the way from places such as Senegal, Morocco, Algeria, Nairobi… never mind the lyrics, the energy and life in some of these tracks is unbeatable. Awesome … Continue reading

Posted in Blog, Music | Tagged , | Leave a comment

The Genre Field is Dead

JasonJ, commenting on Charlie Stross’ post The Death of Genre, said this: Tags, as long as they are accurate, are just what I’ve wanted. I long ago stopped bothering to seej just fantasy or just sci-fi – there are plenty … Continue reading

Posted in Blog, Quote | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Reflections of a Minecraft victim

Maybe it’s the novelty, but I’m finding Minecraft an extremely addicting game. Yes, the graphics look crude, but that’s deliberate. The gameplay is simple, but infinitely rich, depending on what you decide to do. Create a great stronghold with all … Continue reading

Posted in Blog, Game | Tagged | Leave a comment

“The Power of Fear in Networked Publics”

We fear the things – and people — that we do not understand far more than the things we do, even if the latter are much more risky.  For this reason, it’s not surprising that people fear technology. Its newness … Continue reading

Posted in Blog, Quote | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

It doesn’t mean you’re crazy –- talking to yourself has cognitive benefits, study finds

It doesn’t mean you’re crazy –- talking to yourself has cognitive benefits, study finds. In a recent study published in Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, psychologists Gary Lupyan (University of Wisconsin-Madison) and Daniel Swingley (University of Pennsylvania) conducted a series … Continue reading

Posted in Blog | Tagged | Leave a comment

How to Be a Horrible Boss – Diego Basch’s Blog

How to Be a Horrible Boss – Diego Basch’s Blog. I’ve had more bosses than I can remember. The ones who left an indelible impression in my brain were in the extremes: either great or horrible. There are many books … Continue reading

Posted in Blog | Tagged , | Leave a comment

We’ll never get to Banbury Cross at this rate

From Dynamic Model of a Horse Gallop in 2D by Eddy Boxerman. What’s this about cock horses and Banbury crosses? Original PIU thread

Posted in Blog | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Overdue post of liveliness

I’ve been neglecting this blog simply because of a number of things that make adding stuff to this stupid money sink seem even less important than usual. First off, I finally cracked and purchased Minecraft, the sandbox game that’s become … Continue reading

Posted in Blog, Slice of Life | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Quote: Charles Bukowski

For those who believe in God, most of the big questions are answered. But for those of us who can’t readily accept the God formula, the big answers don’t remain stone-written. We adjust to new conditions and discoveries. We are … Continue reading

Posted in Quote | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Asian Snacks Scare Me Sometimes

Posted in Blog | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

I think we all know this about bus brakes

This bus interior looks an awful lot like Wellington’s buses. Could it be…?

Posted in Blog | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Early Japanese Fart Humour

You’ve all heard of (and in some cases, masturbated to) The Dream of the Fisherman’s Wife. Well, forget that. They also found farts excruciatingly funny, as these artworks show.

Posted in Blog | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Petrol, sea slugs and abandoned monuments

It’s rebloggery time! After all, I imported a swag of Precipitate Flood’s tumblr entries, so maybe it’s time to see what I’ve been finding fit to echo.

Posted in Blog | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Reblog Tango: Denarration

There’s been a few things that have appeared on my Tumblr dash that have me thinking about a concept that I’ve been poking around the edges of for some time. I call it denarration: the state of being without a narrative, … Continue reading

Posted in Blog | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

A lovely Christmas video

Posted in Video | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

The Five Most Wrong Brony Tumblrs In Existence

Normally I’m not a top-list writer, since my response to anything tends to be muted at best and critical at worst. However, I’ve been on a My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic jag recently, and as a result not only … Continue reading

Posted in Blog | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Random Crap I reblogged recently

So, we kick off in reverse order with a beautiful aniGIF, Norman Rockwell, and a refreshing take on women in chainmail. So, without further ado:

Posted in Blog | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

A Moral Argument for Hard Science Fiction

Madeleine Ashby has a piece on the Tor website entitled A Moral Argument for Hard Science Fiction. The main take-out quote: All too often in fiction, we choose to batter our science and technology in a thick coating of McGuffin and … Continue reading

Posted in Blog, Quote | Tagged , | Leave a comment

The most awesome rage comic ever?

I just got tweeted about this extraordinary rage comic by an 86-year old. Hope you’re not text-phobic.

Posted in Blog | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

My employment advertisement dictionary

What companies think we think they mean is not the same as what we think they think we mean. Vibrant: Everyone is a mindlessly grinning idiot and will drive you insane to keep a smile on your face. Avoid. Dynamic/Exciting/Fast-paced/Multi-tasking: You will … Continue reading

Posted in Blog | Tagged , , | Leave a comment